"Hell, it's about time." was the first thing Sebastian Cortez said to them once they approached the launch dock. He was there with the rest of team SSSN and Bolin. There was another team that Jaune was not familiar with also hovering around. "What kept you?"

Jaune raised his hand at chest level. "My apologies, it is my fault. I was ensuring everything I wanted packed was indeed packed." he apologized. "Alas, it wasn't."

Sebastian nodded, looking at Jaune's quiver. There were a couple additional things strapped to it, including a bed roll and a roll of something bundled in canvas lashed on with belting. "I am glad to see you choose to be prepared and late rather than be on time and dead."

Scarlet raised his eyebrows. "We're starting early today." He noted. Sebastian shrugged as he ushered the three teams plus onto the aircraft. Jaune glared at the aircraft. His hand went hesitantly into the air

"Can I just walk?" The ranger asked the ushering gunslinger.

"No." Was the response. Jaune groaned to himself, his head hanging. This is going to be a fun trip, won't it? B snipped sarcastically. Jaune was inclined to agree.

I haven't heard from you in kind of a while, B. He noted. Are you good? B just shrugged, nonchalantly as he could.

You've been busy. Between the chess, the therapy, the craftsmanship and your research there hasn't really been a whole lot of time to talk, you know? B said.

Jaune felt a little bad for not making time for his mental friends. Sorry, I will try to do better-

A cut him off. Don't worry about it, Jaune. He said, to which B nodded. We're happy that you're making space for yourself. It's probably healthier for you than locking yourself away with us. A chuckled in a self deprecating manner. Besides, it's nice to see you kind of socialize for once.

Jaune smiled, giving them an eye roll. He trudged onto the bullhead, taking a seat.

"So, everyone knows their missions?" The teacher asked. There was a chorus of affirmations from the students. Jaune shrugged, already looking for the nearest trash can.

Sun gave him a raised eyebrow while Reese just blanched. "Oh, no. I forgot." She whispered, immediately rushing to the other end of the bullhead. Sun's eyebrow climbed higher and higher as he watched the skater retreat to the opposite side. Arslan sighed, moving to sit with her teammate. Sun plopped down next to the ranger. Jaune looked at him.

"You are a brave or Foolish man, Mr. Wukong. I both thank and pity you for your company. May the gods be merciful on your soul." Jaune lamented for him. Sun gave him a concerned look, absolutely not sure what he should be preparing for. The engines flared as the teams got settled, buckling into their seats. It lurched into the air, along with Jaune's stomach.

"How long is this trip?" Sun asked. Cortez just shrugged, leaning back and putting his hat over his eyes.

"Long enough for me to take a nap." He said, before going quiet. The students just looked at him, glancing around at each other before giving a collective shrug and moved on. Jaune hunched over, silently praying for salvation of some kind.

Why, oh why in the name of god did I not pack some sickness meds? He bemoaned to himself.

Perhaps, and hear me out here, it's because you're an idiot? B suggested, the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. Jaune gave him a seething mental glare, but it was interrupted with his stomach churning.

If I had the energy or ability to whup your ass, I would open up a whole can on you. Jaune warned him, as he finally felt his throat give way to the building pressure. He lurched forward

Sun reeled to the side, doing his best to ensure he was as far away as possible from the projectile vomit. He gazed, wide eyed and in horror. He now understood just exactly what Jaune meant when he wished him mercy. It was watching a car wreck. You couldn't look away, no matter how much you wanted to.

"Ay, uh, anyone want to trade seats?" The monkey faunus asked. He got a resounding shaking of heads.

"You couldn't pay me." one of them said. Sun closed his eyes, looking away. He hoped that this trip would stop soon, just so he could get away from the vomiting ranger. Neptune reached across to pat Sun on the shoulder. The engines hummed and churned as the bullhead simply marched on in the sky.

"Hey, professor." one of the students asked. The teacher grumbled, looking groggily at the student who spoke.

"Yeah… jack?" he guessed, tilting his hat to get a look at the speaker. The student shook his head.

"My name is steve." He corrected the teacher. Sebastian shrugged, putting his hat back on over his eyes.

"Close enough. I got the stereotype right." he said, waiving for the student steve to continue. Steve blinked, losing his train of thought from the comment. He took a moment to reign it back in, finding his words again.

"Why are there extra teams here?" Steve asked. "Our dossier doesn't mention the addition of two teams to our mission or our area. And as far as i know, there is not another stop for this flight." He said, checking the manilla folder one more time just to be sure.

"We're not." Jaune said, looking up from his doomed bucket. "Our mission is in the western peaks, In Aham-Karduth." He informed the unaffiliated team. Steve gave him a questioning eye. "Aham-Karduth? Do you mean Ahamkara?" The huntsman asked. Jaune shrugged in response.

"Istanbul, Constenople, what's the difference?" He asked, before his cheeks puffed up and he turned rather green. He bent over to hurl into his only saving grace on this blasted ship. One of Steve's teammates smirked at him in a schadenfreudian manner.

"You sure you're ready for this mission, new kid?" he asked in a mocking manner, having a rare opportunity to get one over on the rather frightening ranger. He had been something of a living legend ever since his fight with Bolin. It wasn't everyday that someone decided to unleash the powers that be with a whole can of whoopass on the side.

But insecure men have always needed to prove themselves to others that they are better than those above them. It is an odd obsession with the image of power, but never the enforcement of the idea. Jaune tilted his head at him, thinking about what he was willing to deal with today.

The answer was not much, and absolutely not shit from a two bit man that Jaune could fold like a lawn chair.

"I will projectile vomit in your general direction, and make everyone very uncomfortable." he threatened succinctly yet sickly, letting it just flow unfiltered from the top of his head to his mouth, and then out into the world. Arslan leaned over to look across the seats at Jaune. Sun, who was next to him, stared at him with a scrunched face that was very reminiscent of Kermit the frog.

"There were several, and I mean several, things I was expecting to hear today." He said, raising up a finger and giving his head a waggle. "But that was not one of them."

Jaune gave him a flat, unimpressed look. "Sun, buddy, are you in the line of fire." he reminded him. Sun's jaws clamped shut, indicating that he was going to shut up now. Dr. Cortez spoke up once Jaune had a moment away from his trash can.

"You know, jaune, no one's called Ahamkara Aham-Karduth in a long time." he sighed wistfully, as though remembering better times, "Like thousands of years, before Firearms long time. How did you come across that name?"

Jaune went wide eyed as his gaze went to the floor, his brain buffering as he searched for that information. "Uhh, a history book?" Jaune guessed, really not sure. Sebastian raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sure…" he said, giving the ranger a coy smile before leaning back. "A history book." was the quiet chuckle as he went back to sleep.

Much of the rest of the trip went quietly, up until about three hours in. Dr. Cortez snorted awake, woken by some unexplainable force. Leaning up towards the pilot, he got his attention.

"We should be close enough. Drop us off, dude." he said to him. There was some form of confirmation from the pilot as the aircraft started to descend. The doctor got to his feet, shouldering his pack. The docking bay doors spread open, the wind whipping into a crackling frenzy. Sebastian turned to his students, giving them a wide and excited smile.

"Well?" He asked. "This is our stop. Everyone off!" he called. Arslan leaned forward to look at the teacher, wide eyes. She looked to her partner, wondering if their mentor was serious. He just tapped his foot on the floor.

"Well, I don't have all day, and neither do you. Now, are you going to jump out of this plane like good lemmings or do I have to toss you?" he asked impatiently. That spurned Sun into motion, and gave him an excuse to move away from the vomit. He scuttled over, gripping the piston to keep him in the plane. His open shirt flapped in the wind as he looked down.

"Wow." He started. "That is a lot farther down than I thought it was…" He turned to look at his teacher. "You sure this is safe?"

"Pffft, of course not." Sebastian said, before pushing the monkey faunus off the bullhead. "Just put your aura in your knees!" He shouted in advice. Turning to the rest of his students, he asked them a question.

"So, who's next?"

Sun was falling. It really wasn't a fun experience now that Sun was going through it. He watched as the lush and dense treeline rapidly approached. Taking deep breaths, he scrambled his brain for a way to prevent becoming a monkey shaped Sun pancake. Clasping his hands together, he called upon his semblance. Out popped several holographic copies of the monkey faunus, clinging to Sun's legs. He used them as a kind of suspension system, sacrificing them to the tree line for the sake of his legs. He slammed into the canopy, his flimsicals of light popping as they were smashed and broken by the tree branches. He himself landed on one of the thicker limbs, climbing down the tree in, well, a monkey like fashion. He looked up to see the rest of his team falling down from the airship. He wondered if they had followed him, or if Dr. Cortez had pushed them out.

Sebastian watched as the students he had tossed fell. He hoped that they would take his advice and put their aura in their knees. He never understood why deployment wasn't covered in classes. Maybe I should do that when we get back. He thought to himself as he motioned for Arslan's team to join him.

"So, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Dr. Cortez offered, but Arslan was already ahead of him.

"Reese," he said, putting her hand on the skater's shoulder. "Please send us a line."

Reese nodded, holding out her hand like she was holding a large flashlight. "It's a long line." hse said hesitantly, but did it anyway. Activating her semblance, a thin, luminescent neon green ray of light shot out. It impaled a tree some distance away. Grabbing her board, she placed it on top of the wire like a zipline and jumped forward. The rest of her team followed suit, using the aura construct to safely get to the ground. Dr. Cortez smiled, approving of the good use of a semblance. Turning to the last student of his, who was already behind him.

"I suppose that you would have me join them?" Jaune asked him. Sebastian gave him an almost proud side eye.

"You catch on quick, don't you?" he asked. Jaune shrugged.

"I got the message after you tossed four people out of a plane." He responded, leaning over the edge. "I suppose you will be joining us on the ground."

The teacher nodded, pulling out some oddly large tablet shaped device. "Yeah. I got to pick up our ride, anyway." He said, fiddling with something on its side. "Well, off with you." and Jaune was shooed away. He leaned forward, just tumbling into a free fall. He felt the wind rush through his hair, making his dark cape flap in the wind. He looked down at the ground, which was rapidly approaching his face. Turning in the air, he flared out his cowl to at least slow his descent some. He blasted through the branches, scraping past the trees as he made his way to the ground. He took in a breath, pulling at the magical strings of mana around him to wrap around him, like a cocoon. Creating pathways and ley lines for him to jump to, he prepared for impact. The ground approached rapidly, a dangerous speed for the average human being, or maybe even the average huntsman.

Thank god Jaune failed to be average. His body should have splattered into the ground, becoming a blonde pancake. It instead, in defiance of common sense, scattered into a conglomerate cluttering of leaves. If one had the ability to peer past the veiled banality of the mortal view and look deeper into the ethereal mechanics of this world, they would see the many strings that Jaune had wrapped around his body pull him apart, separating his various ligaments and segments apart from each other. These sections of flesh and blood, now unsure what to do with themselves, decided to become the closest thing that surrounded them: leaves. The next step was the reforming of his body out of these strands and leaves. Pulling these strings of magic to the side, spooling them together, Jaune felt his body reform into the normal carbon based, iron and hydrogen heavy flesh matter. This particular trick was a step above his usual blink spell, the one that he had called Jump. that was more akin to a simple alteration of reality, a shifting of one's viewpoint to correlate with what Jaune wanted them to see, to believe, which influenced how the world truly was. Magic was strange, and Jaune loathed to try to explain it. Looking around, he scoured this plane for any sign of his allies. He came up unfortunately short, finding no indication of human life. He had a rough idea of where they would be, but no exact heading. Leaning down, he picked up a handful of dirt and mulch off the ground, rolling it in his palm.

"Guide me to my friends." he whispered to the handful of debris, tossing it on the ground. He watched intently as they fell, letting the subtle magic work its well… magic. It landed on the ground in no particular manner. Jaune's brow furrowed, as he wondered whether or not he had formed the mana correctly.

A small gust of wind, tossing the throne dirt in a clear and intentional direction answered his question. With a nod, Jaune started marching, heading towards his colleagues.

Dr. Cortez had jumped out of several planes before. He had jumped out of, or more likely been tossed out of countless more buildings. He had learned to come very prepared for these particular occurrences, and he had. One of his more useful inventions, it was basically a fan with handles and a parachute, designed to slow and give control to your fall. He just kind of hovered around, descending towards the canopy at a leisurely pace. He finally touched ground, pulling out his scroll. Sending a message to his student with a set of coordinates. He started to move towards the coordinates he had sent.

Jaune felt his scroll buzz, pulling it out. There was a set of coordinates. He raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure what that was about.

Perhaps it's where he wants to meet? B suggested. Jaune nodded.

"Yeah, that would do it." Jaune said, heading towards the determined place. It actually wasn't that far off from his current location. Jaune found that the woods here were vastly different, enough to the extent that it was surprising. Gone were the oaks, and were replaced with a bizarre species of trees that somehow both looked like pines and palm trees. The rocky terrain was broken up with the roots of the trees and interspersed shrubbery. He wrapped his cloak around him, as he watched his breath turn to fog.

That's odd. He couldn't help but think. I don't feel cold. Must be the air here. He thought, marching onwards. His hands went to the string of wooden coins attached to his hip, like some kind of waist chain. They ran over it like a rosary, silent little prayers that meant nothing in the grand scheme of his sins. He came across a large drop, like the sheer side of a cliff. At the bottom was his teacher, looking at his scroll. Jaune cleared his throat, announcing his presence.

"You got here fast." the gunslinger said, not even looking up. "As expected."

"I try to be at least a modicum of punctual." Jaune replied, hopping down to get to his teacher. He landed on a flatter rock, and did that little fast paced set of steps down the rest of the cliffside, almost sliding down on his ass.

"So, why are we meeting here?" the ranger had to ask. "Aharm-Karduth is many a mile away. I doubt one could march for a halfnight and make it there by the time we are expected."

Sebastian held up a hand, stopping any further questioning. "I will explain once the rest of our entourage gets here. I hate repeating myself." He said, closing his scroll. "And besides, it would be rude of me to pop the surprise early, you know?" He asked, smiling slyly. Jaune only could raise an eyebrow, concerned as to what his enigmatic teacher was planning.

I hope it's a fun surprise. A said hopefully. And that it doesn't involve plains.

I am inclined to agree with you. Jaune thought to himself, taking up a leaning position against a tree. My stomach and i have had enough of aircraft for some time.

I still think we should have walked. B grumbled, not quite over the churning that the rangers stomach had undertaken. Jaune looked up at the sky, wondering where his friends and co-hunters were. He hoped that they would get there soon.

He wasn't inclined to think that a surprise from Sebastian Cortez was the safest concept.

And another chapter down! I'm sorry this one took so long, and if the last third feels a little rushed/ unpolished. it's the true start of midterm season so I won't get a chance to write for about a week and really wanted to get this out before all my time was consumed. But we got to see something really cool! A justification for deployment training- what? Reese's semblance? yeah, that's cool too. I really look forward to expanding on it in future chapters, because it's a fun one. And we have now truely kicked off the first mission arc! Hallelujah! Phase two of the story!

The idea of a Jaune x Arslan lost on a stranded island has been plaguing my mind recently. I don't know why, but i really want to read it. Not write it, just read it. So if anyone's looking for any story ideas, take it.

As always, leave your comments, reviews, ideas, theories, etc in the notes. I love reading them, even if I don't quite have all the time.